BOOOOOM! That’s the power of of a steam explosion blowing up your morning commute

July 18, 2007 subwayblogger2 Comments

All I gotta say is two things. 1) I told you so and 2) good luck getting to work on the East Side tomorrow.

Ok, so earlier today, I ranted on and on about how shockingly perfect my morning commute was despite the horrible weather. At the end, I mentioned that I hoped it would continue to the ride home, but that I wasn’t going to hold my breath. Boy was I right.

The street literally exploded. Blew up. How bad was it? Bad enough to have the 4, 5, and 6 lines not make any stops in Manhattan. The trains were still running I guess, but they certainly weren’t stopping. They ran nonstop from the Brooklyn Bridge to 125th Street.

The other thing I loved was how the FDNY and MTA couldn’t get their story straight. The FDNY and OEM were advising people to stay away from the East Side around Grand Central Terminal. The MTA kept saying that the trains were running still, and that you could enter on the Madison Ave side. So which is it? Come catch your train or don’t go near the place?

Anyway, the whole event was way to reminiscent of past tragic events. While it is very sad that one person died indirectly from the blast, it is absolutely shocking that there weren’t more deaths. Folks, what was essentially a volcano opened up in the middle of 41st Street, and swallowed a tow truck. It shattered windows 16 stories up. We were lucky.

Anyway, it’s going to be dicey in the morning. Make sure you check the MTA’s transit advisory before heading out in the morning. Good luck to us all.

Photo via stuntbox

Congestion Pricing: Time to Sack Up

July 16, 2007 subwayblogger7 Comments

People are all over Mayor Bloomberg’s Congestion Pricing plan. The opponents keep calling it a tax, because the word “tax” sounds evil. In reality, it’s a toll. Sure, there’s an argument to be made about tolls really just being taxes, but let’s call it what it is. It’s a toll for driving in the heart of Manhattan during peak times.

And it’s not a toll just for New Yorkers. It’s a toll for anyone who wants to drive in Manhattan during peak times.

One thing people who appose the plan conveniently forget to mention is that the toll is not in $8.00 in addition to the tolls you paid to get into the city. If you paid a $4.00 toll on a bridge or tunnel, you would only owe $4 bucks more (for a total of $8.00). So you won’t be charged $12.00.

The technology exists to make all that possible, it’s just a matter of implementing it.

Also, studies have shown that there wont be much impact on outer borough residents. Most outer borough peeps take mass transit into the city anyway, so what’s the big deal?

For that matter, when are people going to wake up and realize that cutting back on pollution is going to cost money? Simply asking people to cut back on their driving doesn’t work. As Bloomberg says, the only way people are going to stop is if it his them in the wallet.

Not only that, but the plan makes NYC eligible for $500 million in federal funds to get the program off and running.

The opposition:

“It is not a coincidence that regions considered hubs for mass transit contain a significant percentage of the population affected by health disorders that stem from pollution such as asthma,” [City Councilman David] Weprin’s report said. “If … more cars equal more pollution, then how can it be argued that more cars going to these neighborhoods will not also lead to more pollution for them?”

Maybe the above is correct, but you’ve got to start somewhere. Any action is always going to produce some sort of negative reaction. Not doing anything is going to produce and even worse consequence. So we had better start trying things. First roll out the current plan. Then come up with other solutions for areas mentioned by Weprin.

Look at it from the flip side of the coin. SUBWAYblogger (and many other New Yorkers) doesn’t own a car, and rely solely on mass transit. So why should we have to breath in your exhaust? If you still want to drive, fine, but it’s gonna cost you. You $8.00 will go toward making life better for the rest of us.

Photo: Newsday

Just a Big Pile of Suck

July 12, 2007 subwayblogger2 Comments

Ok, so can we discuss how f-ed up the past couple days of subway ridership have been?

Why is it that crappy service always comes in waves? You never just have one random day where things are messed up. It always seems like it has to come in 3 or 4 day in a row bursts. It’s like the MTA is trying to test your limits or something.

Monday: A bazillion degrees out. Subway is hot sick. The morning run was just a pain in the ass because the train took forever to get there. Like 15 minutes at least. The evening run was way worse. The trains were so late, that they decided to have my local train skip a bunch of stops. Unfortunately, one of those skipped stop a one that I had to get off. Damn. So I had to get off well in advance and wait for the infamous train “directly behind this one.”

Tuesday: Same slow ass wait in the morning. Evening…well…just shoot me. By far the worst day this week (so far). A slight drizzle as I approached the subway entrance. Unfortunately, I did not have an umbrella, but not a big deal since I made it to the train before it got bad.

Well, the trains were apparently very late again. On the plus side, I got there as the train arrived, but there were already people who had been waiting for 20 minutes. By complete miracle, I made it onto the train. Everything was going swimmingly until the dreaded “this train will be going express…” Again, my stop was getting skipped. Shit.

We all unload, only at this point there was virtually no space whatsoever to even fit on the platform! Express train after express train kept dumping more and more people on the other side, so it was getting pretty dangerous. Clearly, I was not getting anywhere near the next train, so I headed for street level thinking I could catch the bus. Read More »

What’s your jam?

July 11, 2007 subwayblogger4 Comments

[poll=3]

In a completely unrelated spin off to yesterday’s Sudoku post, we began a discussion about iPod content.

Turns out, there’s a lot of other geeks out there like SUBWAYblogger that listen to a variety of podcasts instead of music on their iPods.

I have a ton of music on my iPod, but I prefer to listen to news podcasts on my way to work. It’s a nice way to catch up on what happened while I was asleep. Newspapers don’t really cut it since they go to print in the late evening the night before. And podcasts are more fun.

Since you’re probably a bit of a geek (since you are a reader of this blog), maybe you go for the podcasts over the jams from time to time.

So what are you listening to? Let us know in the comments!! Feel free to post links to your favorite podcasts. Note: Some comments might require moderation depending on the link. I will manually review them and approve them as soon as possible.

Let’s Revisit the Subway Air Conditioning Question

July 9, 2007 subwayblogger5 Comments

Ok, I was wrong! I take it all back. The concept of glass doors on the subway platforms is the best idea I’ve ever heard of. After Bloomberg gets done solving the congestion pricing issue, he needs to work on this. He would truly be a hero.

Back in April, SUBWAYblogger laughed at the idea of having glass doors as a barrier to the subway tracks on the new Second Avenue line. The doors would work just like the AirTran stations. I think the monorail at Disney World works this way too.

Basically, when the train’s not in the station, there’s doors that close to separate the open tracks from the platform. I’m guessing that it is mainly a safety issue, but it also allows the contained platform areas to be air conditioned.

There’s absolutely no way to cool down the current system because the platforms are open to miles and miles of tunnels. The hot air just gets trapped down there.

The NYC Subway was originally built with a push-pull system for air exchange. Ever notice those large vents to street level? They look like a large grate. Well, they are there to let air exchange back and forth between street level and the tunnels. Back in the day, the concept was to have a “natural” exchange of air caused by moving trains.

As a train moves forward, it pushes air. When it reaches a vent, the air gets pushed out. After the train passes the vent, the train then creates a trail of suction which pulls fresh air back down. Hence, the push-pull system. The entire fleet of trains does this constantly.

Unfortunately, the system was put into place waaaaay back in the day. This was before we had such large, hot trains. Back then, the trains were smaller and there were not as many. Also, air conditioned trains is only a recent development. Past trains had no AC at all! All of today’s trains pump the hot air out of the train cars and back into the tunnels. Also, the trains themselves are bigger and more powerful therefore requiring larger cooling systems.

So anyway, it’s time to revisit this issue. There must be something that can be done. Maybe there’s trains that can run cold and don’t produce extra heat. Or maybe we can put up doors on all the platforms. Hell, we are spending billions of dollars on a new line. Maybe we could roll the idea out system wide. It would also cut down on the number of crazies that throw themselves on the tracks. They’d probably still find a way, but at least it wouldn’t be easy.

In the mean time, we’ll sweat our asses off underground.

NYC 4th of July Madness

July 4, 2007 subwayblogger3 Comments

Did you venture to the Lower East Side last night for fireworks? Remember your umbrella? Well, SUBWAYblogger did.

It wasn’t bad getting there really. We transferred at Times Square and took the downtown N train. Not much waiting time at around 7:30pm. Took that down to 23rd Street.

Since we got there a little ahead of schedule, there was plenty of time for a pit-stop at Shake Shack. Here’s where the rain helped. There was virtually no line whatsoever at the Shack. That’s unheard of this time of year. There’s always a line. On average, we usually wait at least 45 minutes. The light rain had driven everyone indoors I guess. There were only about 10 people in front of us. (For you Shack regulars, thats just past the point in line where you step up onto the gravelly part…past the menu sign.)

After a Shack Burger and Summer Peach custard, it was off to FDR. Got there in plenty of time and got an excellent spot for viewing. That was another advantage of the rain. I can’t even imagine what it would be like if it were actually nice out. It actually started to come down pretty heavy at about 9pm (just 20 minutes before show time). Luckily, it stopped just in time.

Good show…yadda yadda.

Then the trek back was…well…an adventure. The part that sucks after a major event lets out is that you are subject to moving with the crowd. The only way to avoid it is to leave early, and who wants to be that guy?

Ended up having to hoof it to the 14th Street station. For some reason, the 14th Street station seemed 10 times farther away than it should have. Anyway, the N train rolled up, and everyone made a dash for it. Just as the last people squeeeeeeeezed on, a Q train pulled in. I was near the outside, so I bailed to catch that express train just as the doors closed behind me. I made it onto the express and even scored a forward facing seat. Sweet!

Of course, my connecting train at 42nd Street took forever to get there. It’s always the last leg that screws you.

On a side note, I’ve never seen so many subway maps out at the same time. Every other person was a tourist or someone from out of town. They had no idea where they were going. You could also tell they were tourists because they thought they were entitled to “breathing room” on the packed train. They looked mortified.

Poloshirts are heaven

June 26, 2007 subwayblogger3 Comments

Guys that can get away with just wearing a poloshirt to work have no idea how lucky they are. While they have no problem dealing with the oppressive subway heat, the rest of us are dying a slow death in our suits.

The powers in charge that mandate full dress attire in the peak of summer are tools. Honestly, can we all just get together in the boardroom wearing some light weight kakis and polos or will that make Bob from accounting cry?

There’s no need! Besides, no matter how nice your suit is, it looks like shit after you’ve sweat through the ass of your pants.

Offices that require full business wear should provide full locker rooms for the men to store their clothes. That way, we can wear shorts and t-shirts to work, and change when we get there. Otherwise, the subway is going to kill us, and we haven’t even reached the hottest point of the year!

Live from the subway, back to you in studio… .

An Underground Movement to Extend V Line (Pun completely intended)

June 13, 2007 subwayblogger4 Comments

Sorry, couldn’t help myself. On with the point.

There’s an underground movement afoot to get the V line extended to Brooklyn, and to restore express service to Brooklyn on the F line. I have to say, I agree with much of the frustration.

The F line is super crammed with riders during peak travel time, and it doesn’t have to be. There’s a line of express tracks sitting there literally rotting away because they aren’t being used. There was even a plan put together back in 2003.

Meanwhile, the V train is virtually empty at all times, but it does not extend into Brooklyn. It stops on the LES. So, it conceivably continue onto the F line tracks. Meanwhile, the F train could use the currently unused express tracks.

This would shift much of the load off the F train and onto the barely used V train. Seems fairly logical, and probably would not be that expensive to renovate the infrastructure to allow the changes.

But of course, it would have to make it’s way though the bureaucracy.

Ok, time to refocus! (and a secret riding tip)

June 11, 2007 subwayblogger2 Comments

Sorry for the lack of posting today. It was just “one of those days” that you wish you just stayed in bed.

In any event, it seems that I managed to dodge a complete sh*t show of a day on the subway. The Lexington line was all out of whack apparently. The trains were only running express from 125th Street South or some craziness.

I was on 1 train today, or at least I should say, I attempted to be on one today. I waited on the local line (No 1) as 2 train after 2 train came down BOTH the local and express tracks. I thought I was stuck in some sort of time warp where trains that are supposed to be express kept coming on both tracks.

Then, I said to hell with it, and I got on one of the plentiful 2 trains. They kept coming, so I was shocked at how full it was. I guess I wasn’t the only one that finally gave up. So eventually, it came time to get off and wait for the local for real. I had ridden as far uptown on the express (running local) as I could. So me, and every other person on the train, decided to get off. What was fun was the fact that there was probably already two trains worth of people already waiting on the platform. Yay.

I had to break out one of my most top secret tricks to get on the first 1 train that finally came by. The secret is, you have to look at the ground. Yup. That’s it. Look at the ground near the edge of the platform. Usually, you want to look at the ground where the yellow warning part is near the edge. Look for the area on the ground that is the most “worn out.” Or look for the area with the least grim. Why? Because that’s where the door is going to line up.

Most trains stop within a couple feet of the “target.” So the doors will generally always line up at the same point all day long. So naturally, a worn area starts to become visibly notable. That’s where the door is going to be. So get yourself right up to that area, and you know the train is going to stop with the door right in front of you. Just make sure that you are near one side or the other of the door. Generally, try to place yourself with your shoulder lined up with the door frame. That way you won’t be in the way when people get off, and you will be in perfect position when it’s time to board.

That secret’s just between you and me.

Happy Cinco De Mayo Eve

May 4, 2007 subwayblogger3 Comments

Since making Google Maps mashups seems to be so popular lately, someone should put together a Margarita map to outline the perfect Cinco de Mayo bar crawl.

Lay it out by subway stop perhaps. Just pinpoint all the places you can get tuned up within 1 block of the subway exit. Hell, SUBWAYblogger would probably help sponsor it!

Yes friends, the stars and the moon have aligned to finally bring us both major drinking holidays on Saturdays in the same year. Both St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco de Mayo fall on Saturdays, so what could be better? (Other than not having to see the sun on Sunday)

There will be the Cinco de Mayo parade tomorrow from 11am to about 2pm traveling downtown on Columbus from 110th to 59th. So if you’re headed to the park on the UWS, be prepared to navigate around.

The floor (comments) is now open for suggestions on where to find the best Margaritas! Your thoughts?

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…